Back to Colorado Postcards
History Colorado
George Bent and wife Magpie (1867).

George Bent

By Jon Pinnow
·

George Bent was caught between worlds. He was born in a tipi outside the walls of Bent’s Fort in 1843. Child of William Bent and Owl Woman, he was called by his Cheyenne name as a child. After his mother died, Bent was sent to white boarding schools back east, then followed school friends into the Civil War. Captured by the Union, he ultimately got back to Colorado, lived with maternal relatives and survived the Sand Creek Massacre. In the aftermath of that atrocity, he identified only with the Cheyenne, and in later years, seeing their culture disappearing, resolved to tell his and the Cheyenne people’s story. Until his death in 1918, George Bent wrote hundreds of letters, pages full of description, drawings and maps (now in the collection of the Denver Public Library) — a rare and personal testament of the lifeways of the Cheyenne people before the irreversible advance of expanding America.

The words "Colorado Postcards" overlaid on top of a sun beams

About Colorado Postcards

Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado. See more postcards.

More like this

Bent’s Fort

In southeastern Colorado, the Arkansas River was once the border between nations.

Owl Woman

The Fort was Bent’s — but the force that made it trusted ground was Owl Woman’s. Mestaa’ėhehe, or Owl Woman, was the daughter of a Cheyenne leader.